Your Right to Know

The
chairman of the Ohio House committee that is working on redrawing the state’s congressional
districts said he wants to see proposed maps in his office by Friday afternoon, but it is unclear
whether the true GOP-backed map will be among them.

Meanwhile, a coalition of groups including the League of Women Voters and Ohio Citizen Action
submitted a plan yesterday that splits few counties, creates one full district inside Franklin
County, and makes 11 of the 16 districts politically competitive (compared with six of 18
today.)

“Two-thirds of voters in Ohio would have a realistic opportunity to influence their
congressional elections, as opposed to one-third of voters in Ohio,” Jim Slagle, manager of the
Ohio Campaign for Accountable Redistricting, told the committee.

The Republican-controlled legislature must redraw Ohio’s congressional districts to match new
census numbers and must reduce Ohio’s districts from 18 to 16, because of the state’s slow
population growth.

Democrats, including Rep. Kathleen Clyde, D-Kent, pushed for majority Republicans to reveal
their top map soon, so there is adequate time for review and public hearings.

“Until then, this is a bit of a sham,” she said after yesterday’s hearing, which featured one
witness.

Asked whether his Friday deadline includes a map drawn by majority Republicans, Rep. Matt
Huffman, R-Lima, the chairman of the State Government and Elections Committee, said, “I don’t have
an expectation because I’m not controlling that process. That is what I’ve requested.”

Huffman was vague about when he expects the committee to vote on a map. The deadline would be
relaxed if lawmakers vote this month to ensure the 2012 presidential primary moves from March to
May.

“Whether we pass something out next week will depend on what we get and what members of the
committee like or dislike about those maps,” Huffman said.

He raised two concerns about the map Slagle presented — that the largest population district had
7,000 more residents than the smallest one, and that the black voting population in the state’s
lone minority district would not exceed 50 percent (48.4 percent).

Slagle said the map could be adjusted to even out the population. He also said the U.S. Supreme
Court has not ruled specifically on whether a minority district’s black voting population must
exceed 50 percent.

The map he submitted, drawn by Mike Fortner, a Republican state legislator in Illinois, would
have four strong GOP districts and three that lean Republican, with one strongly Democratic
district and seven that lean Democratic.

Asked about drawing a map that focuses more on competition, Huffman said, “It’s not a
constitutional requirement. Having said that, given the nature of going from 18 to 16 congressmen,
I think it’s inevitable that we’re going to have more competitive districts.”

Fortner’s map would draw U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers’ district wholly in Franklin County. In all,
the map would divide the county into three districts, and all three, according to political
indexes, would be highly competitive, Slagle said.

Republicans are exploring the idea of drawing a full district inside Franklin County — but not
necessarily how Fortner drew it. The plan would be to draw a second minority district in Ohio that
would take in much or all of Columbus, likely creating a heavily Democratic seat that also would
allow for the creation of two solidly GOP districts in central Ohio.

“We’re interested in looking at that,” Huffman said.

The map could run into political problems, not the least of which is that it combines some
incumbent House members into districts, including one that joins House Speaker John Boehner, R-West
Chester, with Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland.